Shoe heel



F. R. MERlT-r y 2,260,472

sHoE HEEL Filed Dec. 5, 1940 Oct. 28, 1941.

Patented Oct. 28, 1941 SHOE HEEL Frank R. Merritt, Haverhill, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application Decemberu5, 1940, Serial No. 368,685

7 Claims.' (Cl. 36-34) This invention relates to shoe heels and par--v ticularly4 to heels adapted for attachment' to shoes by cement.

When cement is relied upon exclusively in the permanent attachment of a heel to a shoe it is essential that the bond between the heel and the heel seat of the shoe be the strongest possible, since, When a shoe is being Worn, the heelf is at times subjected to very considerable forces tending to break it loose from the shoe. The heel seat materials, which are usually leather and fabric, are prepared for the reception of cement by a roughing operation, leaving a surface to which cement Will adhere tenaciously. The heel may be made of Wood, leather, or any one of many molding compositions and it is an object of the present invention to provide a heel with an attaching face to which the cement Will adhere so strongly that the cement attachment of the heel to the shoe Will be adequate and durable.

With the foregoing in View, I have made special provision in the attaching face of the heel for affording extra anchorage for the cement, to enhance the strength of the cement bond between the heel and the shoe. A feature ofthe invention consists in one or more plugs of brous material, one end of each plug being exposed at the attaching face of the heel and the ends ol the bers in the exposed ends of such plugs being separated or frayed out to afford extra anchorage for cement, which can easily flow around the individual fibers and become so entangled therewith and so firmly attached thereto that there will be no possibility of subsequent peeling or separation of the cement from the heel.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention one end of each fibrous plug is left projecting a short distance from the attaching face of the heel and the brush or mat formed by fraying these projections stands up sufficiently from the cupped surface of the heel to become somewhat embedded in the yielding materials of the heel seat of the shoe, thus insuring areas of firm contact between the heel and the shoe, which are essential if a strong bond between the two is to be produced.

As shown, a plurality of wooden plugs may be embedded and secured, in symmetrical arrangement, in the heel, preferably being disposed obliquely to the attaching face thereof in order to provide exposed areas somewhat greater than the cross-sectional areas of the plugs themselves, and the remainder of the area of the attaching face may be indented or may have holes punched in it in order'further to increase the holding area for the cement.

These and other features of the invention and advantages to be gained by the use thereof, will' become more apparent from reading the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which, 'Y i Fig. 1 is an angular View of a heel with a num f ber of fibrous plugs embedded therein and projecting from the attaching face'thereof; Y y

Fig. 2 is a similar vieW of the heel after the ends of the plugs have had their fibers separatedA or frayed out and indentations have be'en'made" in the remainder of the attaching face; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the rear end portion of a shoe with the heel cement attached thereto.

Referring now to the drawing, I0 indicates a heel of any desired size and shape. usually made of wood although, as above indicated, it may equally Well be made of any other suitable heel material. The illustrated heel is covered, as is customary, with sheet material, the upper marginal portion I2 of which is turned over and stuck down upon the attaching face I4 of the heel. A plurality of plugs I6 of fibrous material such as wood, for example, are driven into holes drilled into the body of the heel at an oblique angle to the attaching face thereof and left projecting a short distance from said face, as shown at I8, Fig. 1. The plugs I6 are thus embedded in the heel, Where they are held securely either by friction alone or with the aid of glue or the like. By reason of the Obliquity of the plugs relatively to the surface of the attaching face I4, the exposed ends of the plugs which are out off approximately parallel t0 said surface will, if the plugs are cylindrical, be elliptical in shape and each will present an area greater than the cross-sectional area of the plug.

The fibers of the projecting portions I8 of the plugs I6 are next separated or frayed out, after which they present the appearance illustrated at 20 in Fig. 2. The attaching face I4 may also have holes punched or indentations impressed in it as shown at 22 in order t0 provide still further anchorage for cement.

In Fig. 3, 24 designates the heel end portion of the outsole and 26 the overlasted counter and upper materials which, together, constitute the heel seat materials of a shoe 28 mounted upon a last 30.

The heel illustrated in Fig. 2 is, in Fig. 3, shown attached to the heel seat of the shoe by a layer of cement 32, and the mats formed by the frayed bers 20 of the ends of the plugs are seen embedded in the heel seat materials of the shoe. It is well known that the heel seat of a shoe is rarely, if ever, so perfectly formed that it will conform'to and engage the entire surface of the cup or attaching face of the heel and it is obvious that no adequate cement attachment f of the two surfaces to each other can be secured in areas Where the surfaces do not touch. The

mats of frayed bers 20, however, extend sufiifciently above the surface I4 of the heel to insure' intimate contact with the heel seat materials of the shoe, even though the general surface of the heel seat may be more or less irregular and, consequently, a very rm and securecemented at# tachment of the heel to the shoe is attained.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1.`A h'eel for vcement-attachmentV to a shoe, said heel having secured therein a plug of fibrous material one end of which is exposed at the attaching face of the heel, the ends of the fibers in the exposed endof the plug being separated or frayed out to afford extra anchorage for cement.

2.A A ,heel for cement attachment to a shoe,`

said heel having secured therein a plug of fibrous material one end of which projects a i short distance from the` `attaching face of the heel, the fibersA in` the projecting end of 4the plug being separated or frayed out to afford extra anchorage for cement.

,plugs the endsof which. are expos-ed at the attaching face of the heel and have their fibers separated or frayedv out.

6. A shoe having a he'el seat adapted for the reception of cement and a heel having secured therein a plug 'of fibrous material one end of which is exposed at the attaching face of the heel, the fibers in the exposed end of the plug being separated or frayed out and the attaching face of said heel being attached to the heel seat of the shoe by cement, a portion vof which is anchored in the frayed out bers of said plug.

7. A shoe havinga heeli seat to which is cement attached a heel, said heel having secured therein a fibrous plug which projects a sho-rtr distance from the attaching face and has its projecting portion frayedvout and embedded in the heel seat of the shoe.

FRANK R. MERRI'I'T. 

